SALISBURY, Md. – The Manhattanville University softball team headed back to Maryland for a second-straight weekend, dropping a pair of games at Salisbury University on Saturday afternoon. The Valiants dropped an 8-7 heartbreaker in the opener, suffering a walk-off loss, before the Sea Gulls completed the doubleheader sweep with a 9-4 victory in the backend. The Valiants fall back to .500 on the year with the losses at 6-6 overall.

Game One Recap: Manhattanville 7, Salisbury 8
The Valiants scored seven unanswered runs to erase a 5-0 deficit in the opener, but the hosting Sea Gulls had a rally of their own in store, plating three runs in the bottom of the seventh for a walk-off win.

Salisbury took the lead with a three run second, doing all their damage with a two-out rally on four hits and a walk, before Audrey March hit a two-run homer in the third to go up 5-0.

The first nine Valiants were sat down in order to open the day before Emma Foster (Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos) drew a leadoff walk in the fourth. Manhattanville's offense sprung to life with the first baserunner of the day as Josie O'Leary (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) and Isabella Tansey (San Diego, Calif./University City) delivered back-to-back singles to get the Valiants on the board. The Valiants loaded the bases later in the inning, allowed Alexa Lazur (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) to drive home Tansey and Angelina Cruz (Oceanside, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) with a two-run single to pull Manhattanville closer at 5-3.

The Valiant bats went right back to work in the fifth as Breanna Ochoa (South Gate, Calif./Saint Joseph High School), Foster and O'Leary opening the inning with three-straight singles. Tansey was hit by a pitch as the fourth batter of the inning, earning an RBI the painful way, before Lianna Lara (Santa Clarita, Calif./Sierra Canyon School) tied the game up at 5-5 with an RBI groundout that allowed O'Leary to score from third.

Manhattanville took its first lead of the day in the sixth. After Lazur reached on a single and Ochoa was hit by a pitch, the Valiants had a pair in scoring position with one away. Foster put the ball in play, lacing a shot to second that was misplayed by Morgan Moxley that allowed both runners to score and send the game to the bottom of the sixth with the Valiants up 7-5.

Jori Wilkendorf (Livermore, Calif./Livermore) went three-up, three-down in the bottom half of the sixth, while Cruz' leadoff walk in the seventh did no further damage to send the game into the bottom of the seventh with the Valiants up by a pair. Wilkendorf retired the first two batters of the inning, but issued a six-pitch walk to Karlie Wolfe that gave the Sea Gulls life. Alayna Gigliotti found a hole in the left side of the infield while an error allowed Wolfe to score and the tying run to advance up to third. March got on board as the winning run with a hit by pitch and moved up to scoring position with a steal, allowing Lexie Delcollo to play the role of hero with a walk-off double to score both runs while down to her final strike.

Wilkendorf, who was in line for Manhattanville's first win against Salisbury since 2018, fell to 4-3 on the year with the loss. The junior allowed eight runs (six earned) on ten hits while walking three and striking out a pair.

All seven of Manhattanville's hits were singles, with O'Leary and Lazur collecting with two apiece. The Valiants stole four bases in the loss, with Foster, Tansey, Lazur and Ochoa each swiping a bag.

Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 4, Salisbury 9
The Sea Gulls scored five runs across the first two innings of the series finale to take a lead that never left the home team's hands to complete the sweep.

Manhattanville struck first with an unearned run in the opening frame as Foster continued to be a table setter at the top of the lineup. After a leadoff walk and a steal, Foster scored from second on an error to spot the visiting side an early lead.

Salisbury responded in short order in the bottom half, plating three runs on a pair of hits and three walks. The Sea Gulls tied it up on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Wolfe before March laced an RBI double and Savannah Reedy singled up the middle for the third run of the inning.

The Sea Gulls tacked on two more an inning later on a Courtney Johnson sac bunt and a Wolfe solo blast.

Foster led off the inning with another walk and steal, with back-to-back errors plating a run and putting two in scoring position for Cruz. The Valiant first basewoman doubled to right center to plate a pair and put the tying run in scoring position. The hit prompted a pitching change, as Madison McGinnis took to the circle to get three outs and maintain the one-run lead.

The third was the last strong showing by the Valiant bats, as Manhattanville generated just two hits against McGinnis across the final four innings. Salisbury added an insurance run in the fourth before firmly pulling away with a three-run sixth.

Hyli De Los Santos (Tustin, Calif./Irvine) fell to 1-1 on the season with the loss, going 5.1 innings in the start. The sophomore was tagged for seven runs (six earned) on eight hits while walking three. Bria Hospodar (Old Bethpage, N.Y./Plainview-Old Bethpage John F Kennedy) got the final two outs of the sixth, allowing a pair of unearned runs on a hit and a walk with one punchout.

Cruz and Lara's doubles accounted for two of Manhattanville's three hits in the finale, with Ochoa adding a single in the fourth. Foster added two more steals while Ochoa stole second following her base hit.

Up Next
The Valiants close out the Maryland weekend on Sunday with a twinbill at Washington College starting at noon.

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